CORN. 



73 



Table slwioing the kinds of vegetable food found in Crows' stomachs and the percentage of 

 each, arranged by months — Continued. 





8 



P 





p 



03 







p 







Month. 



s 



m 



03 



P . 



o o 



o 2 



03 



f^ 



e3 



ft 



P-c 



rv © 



© * 



© pu 



si 



p 



© 



© 



ft 



01 r-J 



o © 



2. a 



° © 



S 

 o 

 o 



rS 









p 





















ft 

 P 



o 



o 

 m 



ft 



p 



'p 







03 



P 





pq 



fe 





< 



o 



P^ 





H 



iS 



tf 







6.6 



3.9 



0.2 



1.6 



0.3 









4.9 







10 



.6 





1.7 











.7 







.9 



.7 





1:2 



.1 



.3 







2.6 





7.2 



April 



0.5 



2.5 





5.2 



May 





trace. 







trace. 



.3 





trace. 





6.4 



June 





trace. 



trace. 





.7 



.8 



0.9 







4.8 













1.1 



.1 



1.1 





0.7 



4 





.7 





.5 



3.8 





.5 









1.5 





.9 





3.4 



.4 





.3 









1.7 



October 



1.6 





8.5 





.2 



.6 









3.5 





4.3 



4 

 5.1 



6 

 4 



.9 











2.4 





trace. 











• 5 i 



5 















.7 



2.3 



2. 2 



.6 



.5 



.5 



.2 



.3 



.1 



3.9 







CORN. 



Corn is an important crop in nearly every State and Territory of the 

 Union, and in many States the area devoted to it exceeds the combined 

 areas of all other cereals. The crop of 1892, though below the average 

 of recent years, amounted to 1,628,464,000 bushels, and the area planted 

 was 70,626,658 acres.- Throughout most of the region from which Grow 

 stomachs were obtained the acreage of corn was far in excess of the 

 general average for the United States. In Maryland, for example, in 

 1892 one-tenth of the entire land area was planted in corn. In Ohio 

 the acreage was somewhat greater proportionally, and in Iowa, the 

 greatest corn State in the country, about one-fifth of the entire area of 

 the State was given to corn. In other years these figures have been 

 exceeded. It is evident, therefore, that except under the most unusual 

 circumstances corn must be readily accessible to Crows in all parts of 

 the country from the time of planting until harvested and housed. 



In many places cornfields are more or less protected from the attacks 

 of Crows during the time of planting and until the corn, is too large to 

 pull, but most attempts at protection are only partially successful, and 

 as a rule such efforts are confined to newly planted fields, no attempt 

 being made to keep Crows away from corn in the milk, or at any later 

 stage. Under these circumstances, if Crows were extraordinarily fond 

 of corn it might be expected to form a very large part of their food 

 during that portion of the year when it is most accessible. 



The general impression that the Crow likes corn under all circum- 

 stances is a mistake. Crows certainly eat considerable quantities of 

 corn during every month in the year, but, as shown further on, they 

 are not fond of ripened corn, and only eat it when more desirable food 



